ROBERT S. KERR
If you have driven around Oklahoma with your family, you may have seen oil wells pumping.
You might have seen tall oil derricks where drilling is going on. Oil is an important resource for
Oklahoma. It has made many Oklahomans rich. Some have even used their oil money to make
their communities better. One of those oilmen was Robert S. Kerr.
Robert, called Bob by his friends, was born in a log cabin near Ada in the Chickasaw Nation. He
went to school and became a lawyer. He used some of his money to drill oil wells. And he
struck it rich!
But he still wanted to do things to help his town and state. So he
ran for government office. He was elected as a governor. Then, he
was chose to be a United States Senator.
In these jobs, he did many things to help us. He passed laws that
gave all students free books to use in their schools.
He even came up with the idea to build a water route to the Gulf of
Mexico! This waterway would connect the Arkansas River to the
Mississippi River. Then our Oklahoma products could be taken by
ship to cities around
the world. This route
is called the KerrMcClellan Navigation
System.
Robert S. Kerr had made a lot of money from the
oil business. When he died, he gave much of that
money to charities. (A charity is a group of people
for help those who are poor.)
1. How did Robert Kerr use oil to help the people
of Oklahoma?
2. What types of things did Robert S. Kerr do to help Oklahomans?
3. If you wanted to be chosen for a government office, what things would you like to do
for your city or state?
Courtesy Oklahoma Council for Social Studies